3 ECC skippers named CHSCA Coach of the Year

CHADWICK WATTERS

Sunday

Apr 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2012 at 8:54 PM

The Eastern Connecticut Conference will be well-represented at next month’s Connecticut High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year dinner. Three of the league’s coaches, Norwich Free Academy’s Neal Curland, East Lyme’s Jack Stabach and Waterford’s Liz Sutman, will be named the best coaches in the state in boys basketball, boys swimming and softball, respectively.

The Eastern Connecticut Conference will be well-represented at next month’s Connecticut High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year dinner.

Three of the league’s coaches, Norwich Free Academy’s Neal Curland, East Lyme’s Jack Stabach and Waterford’s Liz Sutman, will be named the best coaches in the state in boys basketball, boys swimming and softball, respectively.

Sutman, who has been named coach of the year by newspapers and the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance in the past, said this the first time she has won this award.

She said she thinks it honors not just last year’s team, which carried over a 55-game win streak from its undefeated predecessors, but the high-quality teams she has produced over many years.

“I think just the consistency of the program — and I can say the same thing for East Lyme swimming and NFA basketball — I think maybe we were recognized for the consistency in all our programs,” Sutman said.

Curland stressed that a successful head coaching career requires contributions from dozens of athletes and supporters.

“I’ve won the award, but it’s an award for all the great young student athletes I’ve worked with, the great assistant coaches and the trusting parents,” he said. “Without that formula or those pieces, you don’t get awards like that.”

Stabach could not be reached Saturday night.

Tickets are $46 for the dinner, which will be at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. For more information, contact John Fontana at (860) 628-4122.

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